


In The Art World Trans Superheroes Make Friends

by renjunsrey



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Autistic Character, Autistic Son Hyunwoo | Shownu, Autistic Yoo Kihyun, Avengers are mentioned - Freeform, Deaf Clint Barton is Mentioned, First Meeting, Hyunwoo just really likes bugs, Kihyun and Hyunwoo bond over Uni orientation, Kihyun signs when he's excited, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sign Language, Spider-Man is mentioned, Trans Spider-Man Headcanon, Trans Yoo Kihyun, just hanging out, this is just soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-17 00:17:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19329004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renjunsrey/pseuds/renjunsrey
Summary: Hyunwoo is nervous, he's at a new university for orientation, and he's worried that no one will want to talk to the quiet autistic boy in the corner, who seems more concentrated on his bug keychains. Cue Yoo Kihyun, an excitable pink haired boy who is ready to make friends with Hyunwoo as soon as he lays eyes on the lone boy at the orientation welcome ceremony, who sits with him in silence, and makes him feel comfortable as they go through the mandatory activities.And what better way to make a new friend than to ask them if they like Spider-Man and Hawkeye?





	In The Art World Trans Superheroes Make Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I basically have no idea what this is, my mum chose the prompt from things I scribbled down at 2am so I based it off how my best friend and I met. (She was super cute and we bonded over Miles Morales and Peter Parker trans headcanons, she's the love of my damn life)
> 
> Both Hyunwoo and Kihyun have Aspergers in this fic, as it is a form of autism that I am familiar with, and have experienced my whole life. They're goddamn cuties and Hyunwoo just Really Loves Bugs
> 
> Also Trans Peter Parker is my life, and Clint Barton deserves better

After about 20 minutes of double checking the email that his university sent him about orientation, Hyunwoo sits down against a wall in the courtyard that is slowly filling with students that look generally pretty artsy, a few clusters of friends with bright hair, bright clothes, and fun auras, too set in concrete already for Hyunwoo to manage up any courage to join their groups. They were too loud anyway, and Hyunwoo wasn’t sure if he could take that many new people at one time, so he sits, cross legged, and his backpack in his lap, playing with his small plastic bug keychains, staring into space, knowing it was probably going to be 10am soon, and the orientation for his course would start soon. 

 

Hyunwoo enjoys his own little pocket of just background noise, and no interruptions while he waits to have to focus on the speaker, until a small pink haired boy catches Hyunwoo’s eye. The boy is standing alone, as Hyunwoo is, and he seems equally as anxious to approach the massive groups of people that seem to already be establishing themselves; people exchanging numbers, and already joking as if they had known each other forever. 

And maybe they had, maybe Hyunwoo and the lone boy were the only two that were alone and didn’t know anyone at the university yet. Hyunwoo’s brain goes into a little spiral of asking himself if he should introduce himself to the other boy, maybe he would bother him, but maybe he was also looking for a friend, and maybe he was alone like Hyunwoo.

 

In his spiral of thoughts, staring at the spot where the pink haired boy had been standing, watching but not seeing, Hyunwoo doesn’t notice the pink haired boy, clad in an oversized black tee-shirt, splattered with random splatters of paint, and a faded pair of sweatpants, walks over to Hyunwoo, noticing that he was staring at him. When Hyunwoo notices the boy standing in front of him, he stares at the small silver necklace decorating the boy’s neck, and smiles, seeing the boy smile back, Hyunwoo’s anxieties about bothering the boy are slightly settled.

 

“Can I sit here?” The boy asks, his voice soft and melodious, beautiful for the young boy that he appears to be, Hyunwoo waits for a beat before nodding, trying not to seem too eager to have the boy join him in his quiet spot, secretly hoping that he didn’t also bring a lot of noise into the pocket of comfort. The boy slides down the wall to sit next to Hyunwoo, his knees drawn up to his chest, before he places his backpack to lean against his legs. 

The pink haired boy smiles, staring at an indirect point past his shoes, eyes crinkling in a way that intrigues Hyunwoo a little bit, admiring the soft features of the boy, without directly looking at them, opting to stare at the slightly squashed shape of the boy’s earring, and the curl on the top of the pink hair that turns the opposite way to everything else.

 

“My name is Kihyun, my pronouns are he and him” the boy says, tilting his head a little for Hyunwoo to say his own, waiting for the response

 

“Hyunwoo, my pronouns are also he and him, I guess?” Hyunwoo’s voice is flat, and he hopes he doesn’t come across as cold to the newcomer, but Kihyun lets out a little laugh as he smiles, and nods a few times, as if answering an unasked question.

 

“Nice to meet you Hyunwoo, can I stay with you for the orientation? Sorry to be a bother” Kihyun mumbles, not looking anywhere in particular, just anywhere except Hyunwoo’s eyes, but that makes it so much easier for Hyunwoo, because he doesn’t feel his normal pressure to look at someone while they speak, as his old therapist so often told him to do. Hyunwoo also stares blankly for a few seconds, to an outsider, his face could be mistaken for one of confusion and a blank mind, but he was just processing the options in the conversation.

 

“Okay” Hyunwoo smiles shyly, opting to look at his bug keychain again, running his fingers over the beetle that his older sister had bought for him as a well wishing gift before he went to university.

 

“Nice bug” Kihyun says softly, eyes locked on the beetle in Hyunwoo’s hands

 

“Thanks” Hyunwoo smiles, angling it so that Kihyun can see the iridescence in the wings of the plastic form, happy when he sees the boy tilt his head to look at it better.

 

“It’s pretty” Kihyun mutters, before the two fall into a semi-comfortable silence. Well, as comfortable as you can get at university orientation, in a completely unfamiliar environment.

 

Eventually the growing crowd of people falls into a hush, causing Kihyun and Hyunwoo to look up from where they were staring, in their own little worlds, to the tall woman with her hair loosely tied back, standing in front of the crowd with a microphone.

 

“Can everyone hear me fine?” She asks, looking out into the crowd for the few people that nod their heads to make sure that he mic was working just fine, once she gets enough confirmation, she stands up tall and proud, commanding everyone’s attention, but Hyunwoo opts to stare just over the lady’s shoulder, where he can see a bird flitting about in a tree

“Welcome to the Art and Design faculty of Seoul University, I hope you all find what you are looking for here, but to begin, we will show you how we work, and where to find everything!” The lady’s voice turns into a twist and turn of notes as Hyunwoo tries to focus, but not really, picking up that they would be doing an activity with a partner (he’s not sure  _ what _ the activity is, but it’s an activity), before he zones out, only snapping back into attention when he senses Kihyun standing up next to him, swinging his backpack over his shoulder, and looking down expectantly at Hyunwoo.

 

“Sorry, did you say something?” Hyunwoo asks, while standing up from the ground, swinging his own backpack on

 

“I didn’t yet, but do you want to do the partner work together? It’s just to find each of the buildings and mark where our classes are on the map they have up the front, over there.” Kihyun smiles, pointing vaguely in the direction of the few staff members lingering around the ‘stage’, with stacks of papers in their hands. Hyunwoo nods, his face blank, as he follows Kihyun to the front, where he quickly grabs a sheet of paper for the both of them, and leads Hyunwoo out of the crowd, back to the wall where they were sitting before hand.

 

“Have you got your timetable Hyunwoo? We can see if we have any classes together, find those, then find the ones that are different.” Kihyun questions, opening up his photo library to find the photo of his crumpled up timetable. Hyunwoo reaches into the back pocket of his tracksuits where he has his timetable folded neatly into a square, and he hands it over to Kihyun with a little nod.

“Oh, we've got our art history lecture together on Tuesday mornings, and also our drawing studio and lab! We’ll find those first, and then we’ll find your design studios, and then my web design labs, sound good Hyunwoo?” Kihyun looks up from the timetables with his eyebrows slightly raised, and a smile on his face, when he hands back the timetable, he watches as Hyunwoo meticulously folds it and places it back in his pocket, before giving Kihyun a quick thumbs up to signal that he was ready to get a move on to their classes.

 

“Can we find the lecture halls first? Those will get busy because I think everyone has that lecture if you’re in art” Hyunwoo speaks up, as he and Kihyun start to walk out of the courtyard where the students had been gathered. Kihyun nods and stands off to the side, against a wall between the buildings, holding out the map, and his timetable on his phone, with the room codes, trying to locate the correct building.

 

The duo spent the best of half an hour searching for their classes, marking them on the map of the campus, and taking little notes on what landmarks to look for when finding their classes. Hyunwoo had been right when he said that the lecture hall area would be busy, and after walking past it on their adventure to find Kihyun’s lab classroom, they were glad they had found it beforehand, with a massive crowd in the hallways, trying to see which hall it was, and where the best seats in it were. The two of them had marked their maps and were done before a lot of the others were done, so they had some solace that they weren’t going to get lost during their first semester, taking one thing off their minds. Once they had gone back down and showed to the orientation teachers that they had, in fact, found each building and knew what classes they had where, there was a silent agreement between the two, that they would have their lunches together.

 

Kihyun wanders around the courtyard area for a little spot in the shade for him and Hyunwoo to eat their lunches after the first half of orientation day was officially over, Hyunwoo trailing behind him like a lost puppy, content when 5ey found a spot of smooth concrete up against the side of the buildings, tucked away in a little hallway between buildings. The two sit down, next to each other and similar to how they first met, in silence, with their bags sitting next to them, and their lunches in their laps. Kihyun is enjoying the silence, until Hyunwoo looks up expectantly as if he needed to say something, so Kihyun raises an eyebrow and gestures with his hand for Hyunwoo to go on

 

“Thank you for staying with me today Kihyun, I don’t have anyone I know at this campus” Hyunwoo’s soft voice welcomes Kihyun with an unsure tone, Hyunwoo’s own face looking a little worried at the response he’d get, until Kihyun gives him a grin and a thumbs up, trying to swallow his mouthful of food so he can respond.

 

“That’s okay Hyunwoo! I don’t know anyone in art here, so I’m glad to meet someone I have classes with!” Kihyun smiles before reaching for his bag and fumbling around inside it, searching for something, only to pull out his phone, attached to his power bank.

“We should exchange messenger ID’s so we can talk outside of classes! I’d really love to be friends!” The bubbly pink haired boy radiates his eagerness to be friends, like a Labrador, and when Hyunwoo holds out his phone for Kihyun to add himself in his message app, Kihyun beams like the sun, a bright point in the lives of all that he encountered.

 

Once they had checked that their message id’s were correct, the two fall back into a comfortable silence, welcoming the presence of someone else who understood the need for quiet in a new stimulating environment, where everything was unfamiliar. After the two had eaten most of their lunch, Hyunwoo perks up with a little raise of his eyebrows, catching Kihyun’s attention, Hyunwoo takes a beat to check that his sentences were full and could be understood by someone who hadn’t spent their entire life around him.

 

“I like superheroes, do you like Spider-Man?” Hyunwoo’s voice is soft, and Kihyun can tell that Hyunwoo is genuinely interested to see if they have anything in common, what he probably wasn’t betting on, was how eager Kihyun was to talk about his favourite superheroes. The pink haired boy’s face lights up, and he covers his mouth to finish chewing the biscuit he had been eating, while nodding eagerly. When he finishes his mouthful, he flaps his arms a little with a massive grin.

 

“Oh man, Peter Parker is practically my entire life, I started illustrating because of the Spider-Man comics! I mean, have you SEEN Miles Morales, he’s just, so amazing!” Hyunwoo watches Kihyun’s lips as he excitedly talks, a small smile growing on his own face at the excitement of his new found friend, he lipreads to check that he’s not missing anything that Kihyun says as he starts to get even more excited, his arms starting to move more and more as he speaks.

“Okay but Trans Peter Parker is literally the best thing ever as well” Kihyun grins, slapping his thighs dramatically “I will fight anyone who doesn’t let me have that representation”

 

Hyunwoo smiles and nods, having read quite his fair share of Trans Peter Parker stories and headcanons on Twitter, he definitely enjoyed it, nodding along to Kihyun, to make sure he knew that Hyunwoo agreed

 

“And Iron Dad is superior” Kihyun’s hands come up, unconsciously signing every second word, Hyunwoo wonders if he knows he’s doing it or not, but he lets him go, his excitement through the metaphorical roof. 

“Man, if I had someone like Tony, maybe I could afford top surgery without having to basically starve myself to save money” Kihyun laughs, pretending like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but Hyunwoo knows it probably takes a pretty big toll on him, like it had on his friend Hoseok before he had surgery and hormones, so Hyunwoo offers what he hopes is a sympathetic smile, nodding at Kihyun’s words.

 

“I love Iron Man, he’s so cool” Hyunwoo says softly “I’m also really loving the Young Avengers comics” Hyunwoo’s smile widens as he sees Kihyun practically vibrating in excitement about the Young Avengers

 

“Hawkeye is so good” Kihyun starts signing frantically while talking “I don’t think I’ve seen better representation in the comic industry from a big company like Marvel and DC for so long! Like bless to the writers, because seeing a mainstream character like Clint signing and being a chaotic  _ human  _ is so refreshing!” Hyunwoo’s eyes move from Kihyun’s face to follow his hands, wondering when he learned to sign, the fluency of his movements almost more intriguing than the words he was saying.

 

“It’s also just so cool seeing someone who signs like me, and who helps to lead a group like Young Avengers, it’s just so nice to see! God I just really love Clint” Kihyun falls into silence, run out of things to say in his little rant about how much he loves Clint and Spider-Man, or even just holding back to avoid weirding out Hyunwoo before they got too close.

 

“I think they’re really cool too Kihyun, I read a lot about them on Twitter and they’re super interesting” Hyunwoo nods, his eyes leaving Kihyun’s hands, and landing on the bug keychains on his bag

“I really like bugs, I just think they’re neat, so my older sister got me these bug keychains when she went to the science museum for me” Kihyun smiles, looking intently at the bugs from a distance

 

“They’re really cool! Is that a flower beetle? I think they’re super pretty” Hyunwoo nods, impressed that Kihyun knows the name of the beetle, so he moves his bag closer to Kihyun, and angles the keychain so that Kihyun can see the intricately painted replica of the beetle.

 

“Kihyun are you deaf?” Hyunwoo tilts his head to Kihyun, hoping that his words don’t come across as rude, making sure his tone is soft

 

“No, why do you ask, Hyunwoo?” Kihyun doesn’t seem at all annoyed by the question, and Hyunwoo is glad, his heartbeat slowing down a little, but still going a mile a minute

 

“You were signing before, when did you learn?” Hyunwoo questions, looking up at Kihyun, staring at the pink strands of hair fallen onto his face, instead of making eye contact

 

“Oh yeah, I learnt when I was younger because I used to be mostly nonverbal and my parents got pretty frustrated with me” Kihyun shares, a small smile on his face, it looks a little tight, but he shares his story, making sure that Hyunwoo doesn’t look like he’ll leave when he gets the chance, instead of staying with Kihyun

“I still go nonverbal sometimes, but I sign a lot when I’m talking so that I don’t fall out of practice” Kihyun nods, and watches as Hyunwoo mirrors his nod, his facial expression still neutral

 

“That’s cool, I think we have to go back to orientation now” Hyunwoo stands up and puts his backpack over his shoulders, holding his hand to help Kihyun up from against the wall

“I wish I could sign better than I can, but I can barely hold a conversation so far” Hyunwoo’s tone is genuine, and Kihyun grins, taking his new friend’s hand and getting up from the ground, walking with him back into the courtyard where the other art students had started to congregate again, waiting for the teacher to finish setting up the speakers to explain what they had to do for the rest of the day.

 

The two stick to each other throughout the day, just enjoying each other's company, and occasionally exchanging quips about their favourite Avengers, eventually they just end up walking and walking about nothing in particular, as the teachers get them to paint something important to them in an abstract form. They find by the end of the day that they quite enjoy each other’s company, glad they found a friend before they started classes full on.

 

Hyunwoo leaves Kihyun at the courtyard at the end of orientation, wishing his new friend safe travels, before walking to the far end of campus to get on his bus home, choosing to walk further so that he was guaranteed a good seat before everyone else gets on at the end of campus closest to the courtyard where orientation was. Hyunwoo waits in the sun, scrolling through his phone, when the bus pulls up, and he’s glad that he made the decision to get on the bus, a stop before the main one, when he finds an empty two seats in the middle of the bus. 

He sits against the window, and tries to block out the other people on the bus, scrolling through his phone, facing out the window, and he’s glad when the bus pulls up to the next stop, and someone sits next to him almost straight away, from the corner of his eye he sees someone a bit shorter than him, who pulls his bag onto his lap and kicks his legs about as the bus pulls out. Hyunwoo hope that the person doesn’t try to talk to him while he’s on the bus, his stop being nearly completely at the end of the line, also hoping the person gets off before him, but his hopes are crushed as the bus empties out nearly completely, and the person next to him stays seated, earphones in and bopping slightly.

Hyunwoo stares out the window, avoiding all possible eye contact, until he starts to recognise buildings a couple of stops before his own, and he’s about to press the stop button, when the person next to him reaches up and presses it, beating him to it. While Hyunwoo grabs his bag to have it ready once the bus stops he sees the person next to him stare at the keychains for a second, and then let out a little laugh, catching Hyunwoo’s attention, and making him frown, looking up at the smaller person. He wasn’t prepared to see the pink head of hair that he had met earlier that day, smiling in recognition as the bus pulls up to their stop, and Kihyun starts to get up to get off the bus, tapping his metro card as Hyunwoo follows, a little dumbfounded.

 

“I can’t believe we catch the same bus to the same stop! What a coincidence, huh?” Kihyun laughs, a genuine smile on his freckled face. 

“I was avoiding eye contact but then I saw your bag and thought ‘Oh damn its Hyunwoo!’” Hyunwoo smiles, looking at one small flick of pink hair standing upright, glad that it was a friend who he can catch the bus with throughout the year.

Kihyun walks to the sidewalk and points his hand down each direction, alternating while looking at Hyunwoo, eyebrows raised.

 

“What direction do you go? I’ll walk with you” Kihyun smiles, following as Hyunwoo starts walking along the street, pointing his arm out in his direction of travel. The two walk together, small conversation about their orientation program being exchanged as they wander down the side streets to Hyunwoo’s house, a little brick house, with a little car in the driveway, and a well maintained flower garden out the front.

 

“Well this is me, I’ll message you once you get home Kihyun” Hyunwoo smiles, giving a little salute with his right hand, before turning around to open up his front door

“Let me know once you get home, make sure you’re safe!” Hyunwoo smiles, stepping into the doorway, and watching Kihyun, who starts to walk in the direction they had come, his house in the opposite direction to Hyunwoo’s he assumes, so he goes inside to make a cup of tea, and let his sister know that he made it home just fine.

 

\-- --

 

Hyunwoo is leaning back in his desk chair, legs drawn up to his chest, and a blanket wrapped over his shoulders, despite the warm weather, enjoying the weight of the soft fabric, watching a video from an American museum channel, intrigued on their bug collections, when his phone buzzes, startling Hyunwoo with the noise. When he picks it up, he’s greeted with a message notification from Kihyun, so he clicks on it eagerly, waiting to see why his friend was messaging him, despite letting him know that he had arrived home safely minutes after he had dropped Hyunwoo off at his doorstep.

 

**From: Kihyunnie~**

**Hyunwoo!**

**Look at my cat!**

**His name is Void!**

**[ 1 image attached ]**

**[ Image Description: a small black cat is curled up on a white blanket, it’s green eyes are all that are distinguishable from the black ball of fluff ]**

**His name is Void bc I can’t take photos of him**

 

**From: Shownu**

**I love your cat he’s so good**

**Please give him a pat for me**

 

**From: Kihyunnie~**

**He purred**

**He says thanks Woo**

 

**From: Shownu**

**Oh! I found this and I think you will enjoy it!**

**It’s a Clint and Spiderman fic**

**They’re just hanging out being cool and inclusive**

**I think Peter is Deaf and Trans in this one?**

**Its very good**

**[1 link attached]**

 

**From: Kihyunnie~**

**I’ll check it out now!**

**You’re a legend Hyunwoo**

**I’ll let you know how it goes**

 

**\-- --**

 

**From: Kihyunnie~**

**Damn you that made me cry**

 

**From: Shownu**

**??**

**Sorry if it was bad!**

 

**From: Kihyunnie~**

**Oh my god no, that was the best**

**I’m crying because it was cute**

**Damn,,, you know the good shit**

 

**From: Shownu**

**Thanks! I like reading Clint being a dad to Peter**

**Its quality**

**Anyway my sister says dinner is ready**

**I’ll text you later**

 

**From: Kihyunnie~**

**Eat well!**

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little ramble! I enjoyed the story behind it and it was nice to write some autistic characters for a change.  
> Your regularly scheduled Deaf Au's are on the way, so don't you worry, I got a job so I've gotta actually do stuff with my time now :///
> 
> If you have any feedback or feel that I portrayed something in a manner that could be offensive, please let me know! I am more than happy to learn more about my community, or writing in general!
> 
> My twitter is @renjunsrey so you can come and scream at me over there, I'm nearly always attached to my phone~


End file.
